3COM LANplex 6000 User Manual 2

OKEN

ING

WITCHING

About This Guide

ODULE INSTALLATION

For the LANplex 6000

This guide includes:

■

An inventory of items shipped with your LANplex 6000 module

■

An overview of the Token Ring Switching Module (TRSM)

Instructions for installing and replacing TRSM

■

A description of the TRSM’s components, including media options and diagnostic LEDs

■

Pin-out information for the TRSM

Information on installing modules is also included in the

Getting Started

NOTE: Prior to installing the TRSM module, LANplex system software revision

6.0 or later must be installed.

CAUTION:

you must have the new LMM Plus installed in your system. To verify if you have an LMM Plus installed check the module’s ejector tab to ensure it says

LMM+

guide.

In order to run software revision 5.0 or later on the LANplex 6000

UIDE

LANplex 6000

Audience

Taking Inventory

This guide is intended for trained technical personnel only.

Your package should contain the following items.

■

1 LANplex 6000 TRSM

LANplex 6000 Software Release Notes

■

1 disposable electrostatic discharge (ESD) wrist strap

■

Operational diskette(s) (UNIX and DOS)

MIB diskette(s) (UNIX and DOS)

■

Contact 3Com Customer Service Organization at 1-800-876-3266, option 2, if any item is missing.

TRSM Description

TRSM Conﬁgurable

Bridge Modes

The Token Ring Switching Module (TRSM) is designed to add Token Ring (TR) switching functionality to the LANplex 6000, providing the most cost effective solution for introducing segmentation for today's Token Ring networks, while allowing you to prepare for future higher bandwidth requirements such as multimedia applications.

The TRSM has eight shielded RJ-45 token ring ports on the front of the module and one FDDI backplane attachment which may be connected to any of the three LANplex chassis FDDI backplanes. All eight token ring switch ports support a full ring of 260 stations, with two of the ports able to accommodate direct station attachment for dedicated bandwidth to ﬁle servers and other critical resources. The shielded RJ-45 ports allow for attachment via Type 1 STP or Type 3, 4, or 5 UTP copper cable. Each port is independently conﬁgurable to support either 4 Mbps or 16 Mbps operation.

The TRSM is architected to support both source routed or transparent trafﬁc types in the following modes:

Transparent (T)

■

Source Routing (SR)

■

Source Routing-Transparent Bridge (SRT)

Transparent

The TRSM fully complies with the IEEE 802.1d bridging standard, which means that the module:

■

Learns source addresses from packets transmitted by stations on LANs attached to TRSM ports

Ages addresses of stations on attached LANs that have not transmitted a

■

packet for a prolonged time

■

Stores and forwards packets from one attached LAN to another

■

Uses the Spanning Tree protocol for loop detection

The TRSM automatically “learns” the MAC-layer addresses of the stations on its attached networks, and then forwards packets to their appropriate destinations. Packet forwarding is based on learned or statically conﬁgured MAC addresses. The TRSM can learn up to 8192K addresses. Additional addresses are learned as addresses are aged out. All addresses are stored in

TRSM Description

nonvolatile RAM so they will survive a power loss or system initialization. Source Routed trafﬁc is not forwarded while in this mode.

Source Routing (SR)

In Source Routing (SR), the packet contains information in the Route Information Field (RIF), which speciﬁes the route the packet should follow in order to reach its destination. Through the process of route discovery, the packet determines various routes available and embeds this information as Ring Numbers and Bridge Numbers within the RIF. The bridge compares the RIF to its conﬁgured Bridge Numbers and Ring Numbers for each port and forwards the packet if appropriate. The TRSM utilizes one hop between any two ports on the module.

For Spanning Tree, the network mesh topology is reduced to a single path utilizing IEEE 802.1d Spanning Tree.

Transparent trafﬁc is not forwarded while in this mode.

TRSM Conﬁgurable

Protocol Translation

Modes

Source Routing Transparent (SRT)

The Source Routing-Transparent (SRT) operation complies with the 802.1d standard which provides bridging for both Source Routing and non-Source Routing protocols. It uses the Route Information Indicator to differentiate between SR and non-SR packets and applies the appropriate bridging method on each packet received.

To conﬁgure the Bridging mode, see Chapter 11: the

LANplex 6000 Administration Console User Guide. N

Administering the Bridge

Protocol addresses on Token Ring are deﬁned in non-canonical format while FDDI is deﬁned in canonical format. For a workstation on Token Ring to communicate with a server on FDDI, it is necessary to reformat or translate these embedded protocol address. The TRSM supports translation between Token Ring and FDDI for the following protocols: IP, IPX, NetBIOS, and SNA.

Translation is not necessary if FDDI is only used as a transport media between TRSMs. Since this feature may degrade performance, it is recommended that you disable the translation feature when FDDI is used solely as a transport media.

TRSM Installation

Safety Information

This section describes the following:

Module safety information

■

Installation information

LED activity during installation

■

Pin-out information

■

Information on installing modules is also included in the

Getting Started

guide.

LANplex 6000

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage occurs when the module is improperly

handled. ESD can damage components on a module, causing complete or intermittent failures.

To prevent ESD-related damage, handle the module in the following manner:

Always wear the ESD wrist strap provided with the module, ensuring that it

■

makes good skin contact and that the alligator clip is connected to a suitable ground. See Figure 3

■

Keep the module in its antistatic shielded bag until you are ready to

on page 7.

install it.

Prior to Installation

Read if installing in

an empty slot

Do not touch the components, pins, leads, or solder connections.

■

Always handle the module by its edges.

■

Additionally, you should cover every empty slot with a blank faceplate to protect the system from dust or other foreign substances, and to ensure proper system cooling.

Before you install your new module, follow the appropriate pre-installation instructions below:

Your LANplex system is shipped with no modules installed and with protective faceplates covering the installation slots. Initial installation requires that you remove the protective faceplate covering the selected installation slot prior to installing the option module.

TRSM Installation

To remove the faceplate:

Unscrew the securing screws on the module’s faceplate. See Figure 1.

Captive screws

Blank faceplates

LMM+ in slot 1

Read if replacing

a TRSM

Figure 1

Pull the faceplate away from the system.

LANplex 6004 with Blank Faceplates

You can replace a module while the system is powered on. Replacing the module requires that you remove the attached cables from the module’s ports prior to installing the new module.

NOTE:

Ensure that there is a record of where the cables are attached so that

you can correctly re-connect them to the new module.

CAUTION:

Inserting and extracting a TRSM erases all information stored in NVRAM on the TRSM. Before removing the installed TRSM, save all nonvolatile data using the NV data save functionality on the system’s Administration Console. This information can be restored using the NV restore functionality. See the LANplex 6000 Administration Console User Guide for information on saving, restoring, and resetting nonvolatile data. Inserting and extracting a module will cause a warm system reboot.

To remove a module:

Discharge yourself of static electricity by placing the ESD wrist strap on your wrist and clipping the alligator clip to the mounting screw located next to the black ground symbol on the system’s right mounting bracket. See Figure 3. If your system does not have mounting brackets, touch the rear panel.

Disconnect the cables from the module’s ports.

Unscrew the securing screws on the module’s faceplate. See Figure 1.

+ 11 hidden pages